When Charlotte awoke, she was tucked in on an orange pin-striped couch with a heavy-knit blanket snuggly wrapped around her. A redhaired boy stared at her with bottle-blue eyes from where he had been deposited on a spun rug near her feet.
"Hello, there," her voice croaked.
The boy began to wail.
Quickly, Charlotte sat up and felt her head spin. She pressed fingertips to her temples and felt the throb of her head pulsate beneath them.
"Oh, Ronald," a maternal voice cooed, "It's just our new friend Charlotte."
Her eyes opened and she was greeted with a warm, cheerful grin.
The woman before her quickly scooped up the wailing child and placed him on her hip. She wore her medium-length copper hair tied up in a messy semblance of a bun, and her blue eyes crinkled at the corners with the ease of a well-used smile.
"Hello, dear. I'm Molly – Molly Weasley. This is Ronald. Sorry, he's a bit jumpy."
Charlotte tried to remember how to smile behind the thunderous roar of her head, "Charlotte – Charlotte Snape."
"Welcome to our home, can I fetch you a cup of tea?"
"I'm so sorry to impose on you," Charlotte tried to stand and felt a hand firmly push her back into the couch.
She looked up at the suddenly no-nonsense face above her, "Strict orders from Dumbledore, I'm afraid, to keep you right here. Now, I've been told you'll have a headache, so I have a draught all fixed up for you. How do you take your tea?"
Charlotte blinked, "Two sugars, please."
A mismatched tea cup and saucer were handed to her, an oversized ginger biscuit hanging off the saucer's lip.
"Now just stay right here," Molly pointed a finger at the sofa, "And I'll be right back."
She tottered off with the child on her hip and Charlotte tried to grasp her surroundings.
Charlotte was in a well-worn living room littered with children's toys. A knitting basket rested near her feet, and Charlotte quickly took off her muddy shoes. She briefly wondered where her wand had ended up as she blew carefully on her tea, taking in the sweet smell of a well-sugared oolong.
Molly had well-disguised the potion in her tea, and Charlotte already felt the pounding behind her temples begin to subside.
When she returned, Molly came toting a stack of clothing, "Now, I'm sure something in this pile will fit you. It'll be like a tent on you, though, skinny thing you are."
Charlotte looked down to her own clothes. Her trousers were smeared with ashes and mud, her jumper singed to the elbows, and thankfully her blouse seemed to only miss small spots. She followed Molly's eyes as they darted to something on Charlotte's forearm.
The Dark Mark.
Quickly, Charlotte tucked her arm under the blanket, and stared up at the redhead.
"Never mind that, dearest. Pop off into Arthur – that's my husband – his office is just around. Do you need some help?"
Charlotte nodded and the woman quickly righted Charlotte to her feet.
"I'm afraid there will be no mending these, but I'll get your shoes cleaned off for you. I've put a pair of socks in there to keep your toes warm."
Molly beamed at her and pointed at a door down the hall, and Charlotte tip-toed down.
Assessing the damage, Charlotte looked at the blisters on her skin and the large burns that covered her arms and torso. Her legs seemed mostly unharmed but for a few dark, black bruises and a large cut on her calf that she would have to ask someone else to sort for her. She slipped into a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved thermal that hung off of her before she tucked her feet into a pair of knitted socks.
Carefully, she folded her soiled clothes and tucked them under her arm.
Confused would be an understatement, she decided.
She wasn't sure why Albus had wanted her taken to the Weasleys – who she briefly recalled from school, though they had been in their final year when Charlotte had been in her first. Molly Prewett's brothers were something of a legend at Hogwarts for their dashing good looks, and for their dueling skills amongst the Death Eaters. Surely, Molly Weasley would not want a Death Eater in her house, considering what had happened to the Prewett boys.
Charlotte hugged her singed clothes to her chest as she left Arthur Weasley's office and headed back down the hall where her cup of tea still sat steaming.
Molly took her clothes from her and popped out of the room before returning with Severus.
"I've told you, Severus, that she's fine."
Severus scowled at Molly and continued into the room before stooping over Charlotte.
His fingers carefully grasped her chin and turned her face back and forth before he snorted.
"Fine, Molly? She looks like a troll got hold of her."
Severus took out his wand and pointed it at her face.
Charlotte flinched.
Instead, Severus softly began speaking incantations and warmth spread across Charlotte's cheek, before it moved down her neck. Severus's wand carefully worked her over, checking all visible spots before he stopped and looked at her in expectation.
"My back, and my leg," she whispered.
Charlotte scooted around and Severus lifted up the back of her borrowed shirt to begin on her back, and Charlotte heard Molly take in a sharp breath.
"Quiet, Molly, they're just curse marks," Severus snapped, "I'll fix the rest of it."
Covering her face, Charlotte buried her face into the crook of her elbow as Severus worked carefully on the burns on her shoulders.
"How's your head?"
Severus spoke quietly.
"Better."
"Any broken bones? Anything not feeling quite right?"
Charlotte shook her head, and kept her face buried.
It was one thing, she supposed, to strip down practically naked in front of a stranger. During her time as a Death Eater, it had not always allowed for things like privacy or decorum. She had needed to change quickly after raids and errands, to burn her bloodied clothes. But the other Death Eaters had been like her – scarred and marked. They hadn't gasped at each other's curse marks or stared at their Dark Marks. After all, if they had, they would have spent an eternity out of breath and gaping.
Charlotte could count the scars on her body and recall each moment of them. The cuts on her back were from Severus's own curse, rebounded in a duel against Alastor Moody. Another, that started at her temple and disappeared in her hairline was from Moody himself. The others, little bits and scrapes were from other raids, other moments of a darker time.
She wished she could be rid of them all.
"Let me have your leg, then."
When Charlotte turned, Molly had disappeared. Severus pulled up the leg of her pants and scowled at the mark on her leg before beginning his work.
"What did I do, Severus?"
Charlotte watched his mouth purse and tighten as he checked her other leg.
"You've become an obscurial," he answered finally, "You did what obscurials do."
"But I'm not dead."
Severus was staring at her now from where he knelt on the rug in front of her.
"No, you are not," he said finally, "But you destroyed three buildings. Thankfully, you wandered far enough off that no one noticed more than they are apt to notice in Knockturn Alley."
Charlotte's eyes began to burn, "My father's apothecary is gone."
Severus sighed, "Albus has sorted it. It's been rectified."
"What's going to happen to me?"
Her husband stared at her, and in a moment, seemed to forget himself as he reached forward and tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear, "Albus will sort it out."
"Professor Dumbledore is doing a lot of sorting out, Severus," she whimpered, "Are they going to send me to Azkaban?"
His eyes darkened immediately, "No, they will not."
Rolling down her pant legs, he took a moment before he stood. His hand reached out to grasp hers and help her back to her feet.
"Then why am I here?"
"To meet The Order."
Charlotte stopped from where he had begun to lead her, suddenly cemented to the floor.
"The Order, Severus?"
Severus paused, and then scowled, "They are not about to convict you, Charlotte."
"Well they certainly aren't going to declare us best friends and exchange bracelets, Severus."
She heard a snort and watched Remus come around the corner of the hallway.
How many hallways did this house have, anyway, she wondered?
"I'll exchange bracelets with you, Charlie," he grinned.
"Well, I didn't try to kill you," She mumbled, "Intentionally, anyway."
Hoping that he had not heard the last bit, Charlotte allowed herself to take Remus's outstretched hand and follow him into a bustling kitchen. A long, wooden table sat in the middle surrounded by mismatched benches.
First, she noted Albus Dumbledore sitting at the head of the table. Other faces were familiar – Alastor Moody, the man Remus had called Fletcher, Molly and Arthur Weasley, and other faces that she briefly recalled from either Hogwarts or raids in Diagon Alley. Not all of them looked especially friendly, either, she noted.
"Hello, Charlotte," Albus said as he set down a cup of tea, "How are you feeling?"
"Confused," she whispered, standing still in the doorway.
Remus tugged her across the room to a free bench, and Severus chose to stand in the doorway, leaning with his armed crossed against the wall. He looked especially annoyed.
"This is what remains of the Order of the Phoenix, Charlotte," Albus was still smiling, "I'm sure you have heard of them."
Charlotte looked down the table and noted that only Molly Weasley and another especially young-looking girl seemed to be smiling at her. Alastor Moody, in particular, seemed especially hostile in his stare.
"Now, Charlotte," her former headmaster began, "Please tell me what happened."
She was unsure of where to begin, and so she began at the beginning of her day. As she spoke, she noted the hostile faces surrounding her began to soften, their eyes turning from angered to bewildered – perhaps a few looked a bit frightened.
"You saw Regulus Black and Wilhemina Wilkes," Remus Lupin murmured, "But they're dead, Charlotte."
"I know that," she replied hotly, "but they were there. I felt them. They were there."
Albus had watched her in silence, occasionally reaching for his cup of tea and a dish of what Charlotte noted appeared to be treacle fudge. Now he set his cup down and leaned forward.
"Charlotte, why do you think you saw Regulus Black and Wilhemina Wilkes while you were in your obscurial state?"
Truthfully, Charlotte did not want to know. She had done her best to think of other things since she awoke on the floor of her father's charred apothecary.
"When was the last time you performed any advanced magic?"
"Advanced?"
"Let us consider your magical education beyond third year," Albus was no longer smiling.
Charlotte tried to remember.
"Second year?"
She began to feel her palms sweat as faces turned to look at her in shock, and she focused on trying to recall the last time she had used any advanced magic at all.
"A cleaning spell, at Severus's."
"A first-year task, Charlotte."
Charlotte's face was heating, and she noted that the tea cup set in front of her by Molly had begun to tremble.
"There is nothing to be ashamed of, Charlotte."
The tea cup stilled as she looked up at him.
Her eyes were burning, and her hands trembled on her lap. More now than ever, she wished she could apparate away somewhere – anywhere, really, and be alone.
"I killed her, Professor," She whispered and felt tears well up at her eyelids, "I killed Wilhemina."
Albus was watching her carefully, and Charlotte felt a hand begin rubbing circles on her back.
"Wilhemina Wilkes was strangled by her brother, if I recall, Charlotte."
She looked up at him, suddenly angry, "I told William where he could find her, Dumbledore. I told him where she had gone!"
No one moved at the table, but their eyes watched her carefully.
"She'd gone off and married a muggle – and she had moved to some muggle village – and he was asking for her. He said," she was sobbing now, "He said he wanted to make amends with her."
"Then how is it you're to blame?"
"I should've warned her. I knew they hadn't likely gotten the floo. I should've apparated – but the Dark Lord – the Dark Lord wanted me to do something, and I couldn't just leave."
"Because he would have killed you, Charlotte."
Charlotte heard a high-pitched whine fill her chest as she sobbed, "She was my friend."
"Charlotte, Voldemort would have killed you. From what Severus has disclosed to me over the last several years, you agreed to become a Death Eater in payment for Regulus betraying him. You entered a mode of survival."
Charlotte's eyes narrowed as she looked up at him, "Do you think I had another option?"
Albus smiled softly at her, his eyes suddenly sad, "No, dear girl, I don't believe you did."
He took a long sip of his tea and looked around the table, "Repressed magic is something we have not witnessed to this degree in decades, my friends. I believe the muggles have a coined term for it, post-traumatic stress. I have brought Mrs. Snape here not for your forgiveness for her acts in service to Voldemort."
"Then why did you bring her here, Albus?" snorted Moody.
"Because the Dark Mark has never faded from those branded with it. I have long surmised that this means that one day, Voldemort will attempt to return. Grindelwald, before him, had a desperate curiosity of obscurials, because of the power many of you witnessed tonight."
Charlotte felt her skin grow cold.
Her desperate eyes looked to Severus, who was coolly contemplating his own cup of tea.
"I do not doubt that Voldemort will seek his former servants when he returns. It is vital that we do not allow Mrs. Snape's condition to become a weapon in his hands."
Albus sat back as a torrent of retorts spilled out of the mouths of the Order members.
"Obscurials die, Albus, I'm not sure what else we can do."
"You don't think that the people who witnessed tonight will keep that bit to themselves?"
"What do you expect us to accomplish?"
"She's likely to be this way permanently."
At the last words, Albus rose a hand, "I believe that obscurials can recover from their affliction, though I am sure many would disagree with me. An obscurial can possibly be healed by replacing their feelings of alienation, which ultimately lead to the creation of their obscurus, with a sense of belonging."
Charlotte could no longer hear them.
Her ears were roaring.
Voldemort will attempt to return.
"Severus," she whispered, turning eyes to him, "Severus."
Her husband turned his dark eyes towards her.
"We need to leave."
The table fell silent, and all eyes turned on to her.
"Severus, we need to leave, now."
"Charlotte?"
Remus' face was incredulous, "What do you mean?"
"If he finds out we were ever here, Severus," her voice was still only a whisper, "He will kill us."
Severus watched her as she began to fidget, pulling the sleeves of her thermal shirt up to her thumbs. She was glancing down the table, her ears still roaring above the onslaught of discussion around her, the hushed promises of protection.
"You will hide your mind from him, Charlotte, and join the Order as I did."
"You can hide nothing from the Dark Lord, Severus."
"I believe that you are capable. You are a skilled Occlumens."
"If you will not leave with me, Severus, I will go alone."
His eyes narrowed, "And where will you go?"
Charlotte knew what happened to those who betrayed the Dark Lord. She had watched everything she had ever owned go up in smoke the day his judgement fell for Regulus' actions. She had plead on the sidewalk in her nightgown, hands pressed to the cement to beg for his mercy.
Voldemort had granted it, but only for her life.
But Severus was right, she mulled over in her thoughts as Molly freshened her pot of tea and rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Charlotte had lost all of her friends in the war. If Dumbledore was right and the Dark Lord was, at some point, going to return, it only could stand for the assumption that her former comrades would have little qualm about handing her in for their own skins.
Except for one.
Augustus Rookwood had claimed during his trials to be under the Imperius Curse, which had led to him entering the ranks of Death Eaters and committing atrocious acts. If Charlotte's memory served her correctly, and that at least she was still confident in, Rookwood had named Bellatrix Lestrange as his attacker.
Bellatrix Lestrange, however, was now in Azkaban. But if Dumbledore was to be taken seriously, Charlotte doubted that Voldemort would allow his most loyal servant to rot away under the care of the dementors. He would unleash her, and she would hunt for Rookwood. Bellatrix had never been renowned for allowing anyone who crossed her to get away with it.
But Bella had always loved Charlotte. As much as the sociopath was capable, anyway.
They could strike a deal.
It would take a few days, she reasoned, to get a hold of Augustus. He was a Secret Keeper for the Ministry of Magic, and Charlotte doubted that he was home very often. There would be a few road blocks she would need to overcome.
As she was handed a coin stamped with a Phoenix, Charlotte was still thinking above the careful conversation being held around her.
Somewhere, Charlotte was advised her things had been sent to Spinner's End. The house had been fitted with precautionary spells and charms to protect the muggles in residence, and she would remain there until Severus returned to Hogwarts.
A member of the Order would come to help her each day to work on her magic.
Augustus has a home in Boston.
Severus would brew her calming draughts for the evening.
She could blackmail him into allowing her to stay there.
Remus promised to write to her.
Threatening anyone with Bellatrix had a way of working its own kind of magic.
Dumbledore was staring at her, and Charlotte carefully steeled her mind. There was a twinkle in his eye, and Charlotte swallowed as Severus took her arm to apparate them back to his home.
"Charlotte?"
Severus hesitated and turned to her.
"Be brave, Charlotte. I know you are capable."
Charlotte stared at her former headmaster.
Bravery was for Gryffindors.
And there we have Chapter Five! Thank you all for the lovely reviews. I've had a lot on my plate recently but I promise the chapters will be posted more regularly from this point. I'll have the next one up by Friday! :)
Please let me know what you thought of C5 in the review section!